My fingers trembled as I tried to tap Klaus' contact.

Fucking blood.

My phone wasn't responding to me. Please, please, please. Bennett was screaming in his carrier.

It was the woman again, she'd appeared. And, and then- it was-

Fuck.

A hand reached over mine, taking my phone from me. Before I could even react, Marcel held a finger to his lips. "Come with me."

"What the hell?"

"If you want to protect that kid, you'll listen."

Alright...

He glanced around, before grabbing my hand and leading me out of the literal massacre. He couldn't be doing anything to hurt me, right?

...

"I need you to not freak out." Marcel whispered.

He'd lead me to the church, I swear if this was another goddamn surprise like my wedding... "Why would I?" At least the walk had calmed Bennett down.

He pushed the door open to what I could only assume was the attic.

And there was the creepy woman. I pulled against Marcel's grip, desperate to get away.

"Come in." She stood, folding her hands in front of her.

"Maverick, please."

"No! She made me see-" Him. All I could see was  him.

"Enough." The woman extended her hand, and terrifyingly, I felt my body freeze. Marcel rolled his eyes and dragged me inside. He shut the door.

It felt like I was being entombed.

The woman began circling me, analyzing me. "I can see why my nephew is so taken. You are a beauty."

Dahlia.

I wrapped my arms around Bennett. "What do you want?"

"I have a proposition for you."

"Why would I ever-" She raised her hand and suddenly I couldn't breathe. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I dropped to my knees, trying to force my lungs to work, but they weren't responding.

What if this hurt the baby?

"Dahlia, we need her."

I greedily sucked in air.

"I don't tolerate disrespect." She crouched down beside me. "You will agree to my terms, or you will die."

Where was the rune when I needed it?!

"Now, onto a more delicate matter. As I understand it, you are Niklaus' newly wed wife. Which gives you an access neither Marcel nor I have."

"Little hiccup in your plan." I stood and quickly backed away, giving myself some much needed room. "That was a marriage of convenience. I don't have his ear. Your best bet if you want that, is Elijah."

Marcel crossed his arms. "We both know that's not true."

"I don't know what you think Klaus and I have, clearly you're mistaken."

"So that is not his child? You are not pregnant with another two of his brood?" Dahlia rose, folding her hands in front of her.

Two?!

The blood drained from my face. "How do you know?"

"I can sense his children, much like I could sense Esther's."

Did she know?!

"Are you going to hurt them?"

She chuckled darkly, shaking her head. "I'm no monster. They are my blood, after all. No, what I want is easily done. We're going to use that mate mark of yours against him."

I couldn't help but put a hand over it, far more weary. "It won't stop him. Simply make him uncomfortably aware that I'm fucking someone else."

"I think you've misunderstood." Dahlia pulled something out of her pocket. "I want you to sleep with your husband. The more he touches you, the more he poisons himself. Within a week, he will be far too weak to stop me."

"What about my children? I'm not poisoning them."

"It will only attack Niklaus." She moved forward, twisting off the lid. "As the only way to activate it, is him biting you. Your bond will make not doing so, almost impossible."

Fuck.

"You think that Klaus Mikaelson, the most paranoid man on the planet, won't be suspicious that I suddenly want to fuck him?"

"You're not already?" Marcel crossed his arms. "I thought-" He nodded at Bennett.

"It's very complicated." I'd need to get back to the compound soon or they'd come looking. "What is my guarantee that this won't go poorly? The last time I betrayed Klaus, he murdered all my friends."

Marcel pulled a wicked looking knife out of his jacket.

"Really?"

"This is a nasty little fucker. It was made to temporarily take down an Original. Puts them in indescribable pain." He handed it to me. "Although you should be careful. It can only be used on one at a time, and both Elijah and Klaus have already been stabbed by it, so they know what to expect."

"Lovely." I carefully slid it between Bennett's carrier and my stomach. "So what, all I have to do is get Klaus to bite me a few times? That's your master plan?"

"Niklaus is an Original, but he's also a hybrid, which makes him the heaviest hitter. He's more immune to types of spells than his siblings are, take out the king and the rest will follow."

Dahlia moved forward again. "Freya will present more of a fight. First borns in my family carry a devastating amount of power." She poured the liquid on my mark, and it burned.

Holy fucking shit!

"What's the end goal here?" I winced.

"I want Hope. She will be far more than her parents can handle, she needs a teacher to help her learn to control her magic."

"See? She's not trying to hurt Hope." Marcel gestured vaguely at the woman. "She's trying to help."

"If only my stubborn nephew could see it too."